Anthony Joshua
'AJ'
Nation
Date of birth
15 October, 1989 (34 Years Old)
Height
6 ft 6 (198 cm)
Reach
82 in (208 cm)
Wins
28
Losses
3
Ko's
25

Anthony Joshua
'AJ'
Nation
DATE OF BIRTH
15 October, 1989 (34 Years Old)
Height
6 FT 6 (198 CM)
REACH
82 IN (208 CM)
wins
28
Losses
3
ko's
25
Notable Opponents
Titles Won
Titles Won
Background
Anthony Joshua hails from Watford, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. He was born to Nigerian parents, and has spent a part of his childhood growing up in Nigeria. AJ stepped into boxing late at the age of 18, but managed to amass an impressive record during his relatively short amateur career. He won Gold in 2010 and 2011 during the ABA Championships, and also captured Gold while competing in the Great Britain Championships. Despite not winning any medals at the European Championships, Anthony Joshua racked up some impressive performances during 2011 and the year before, earning himself the ‘Amateur Boxer of the Year’ award courtesy of the Boxing Writers Club of Great Britain in October that same year. At the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Joshua also managed to grab silver after losing by just a point in the final match of the tournament against Magomedrasul Majidov. AJ managed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics during his Silver-medal run in Baku.

Accomplishments
AJ and Andy Ruiz faced each other on June 1, 2019. A knockdown scored by Joshua set the tone of the match, and he got knocked down himself by a right hook to the temple from Andy Ruiz later in the same round – that punch would prove to be the deciding factor later on for Ruiz. Andy Ruiz went on to dominate AJ on the inside and scored a further two knockdowns in the seventh round, whereafter the referee waved the match off and Andy Ruiz Jr was announced the winner by TKO. As a result, he gained all of the world titles that Anthony Joshua had won during his career.
This marked AJ’s first loss of his career in a bout where he was almost unanimously expected to win. The Andy Ruiz win shook the Heavyweight division, and Anthony Joshua’s stock seemingly plummeted as he appeared on most Heavyweight rankings behind his rivals Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
AJ activated the rematch clause that was put in prior to his first bout with Ruiz, and the pair agreed to fight on December 7 in Saudi Arabia after the negotiations for the rematch nearly collapsing. In the end, it took a threat by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn to take the matter to court for Andy Ruiz to sign off on the rematch.
In the rematch, Joshua reclaimed all his belts in a unanimous decision win vs. Ruiz. While it was noticeable Joshua avoided fighting on the inside, he showcased an improved set of boxing skills that allowed him to stay fresh and relatively unbruised while he boxed from the outside – utilizing his reach, height and improved speed to land on Ruiz while remaining clear from the danger of Ruiz’ hooks. Ruiz had also noticeably increased in weight during their weigh-in, and that was said to be a factor in Anthony Joshua’s performance.
With the win and his belts secured, Anthony Joshua took back his position as one of the best Heavyweights of his era. After defending himself in a mandatory against Pulev and failing to secure a Unification fight with Tyson Fury.
AJ went on to face Oleksandr Usyk, the former undisputed Cruiserweight champion that had moved up to the Heavyweight division, but stumbled upon a upset loss to the Ukrainian on September 25 in 2021. The unified champion lost all his titles to Usyk following his unanimous decision defeat.
A rematch soon followed on the 20th of August in 2022 against Usyk, but despite putting up a better performance than the first match, the British former unified champion again lost by split-decision.
He returned to the ring on April 1st in 2023 against Jermaine Franklin – who had lost contentious decision to Dillian Whyte prior to Joshua. Anthony Joshua coursed to a UD victory against Franklin.
In the same year, Anthony Joshua faced Robert Helenius on August 12th after originally being set to face Dillian Whyte who was removed from the card due to a failed drug test.
Though he did not fight to the best of his capabilities against Helenius, Joshua scored a crucial knockout in the 7th round to pick up his winning form following his April win over Jermaine Franklin.
On December 23rd, Joshua fought for a third time in 2023 and recorded a fifth-round TKO win over Swedish heavyweight Otto Wallin.
In the beginning of March in 2024, Joshua went on to face former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and presided over a dominant and easy victory over the Cameroonian, knocking Ngannou out in just the second round of their ten-round match.
Boxing Style

With AJ’s record currently standing at 22 KO’s out of 25 wins, Joshua has earned widespread renown as well as hate for a style of fighting which he has adapted over the years. AJ’s muscled and large 6’6 physique has been ever-present since his amateur days. In nearly every one of his pro fights he has used his size and strength to dominate over his opponents with his physicality. Adversely, this has resulted in him being labeled as ‘Robotic’ by some of his peers and critics [1], citing his lack of mobility as a reason for that monniker.
Primarily a counterpuncher, Anthony Joshua’s growth in boxing skills synchronized with his approach of becoming more cautious as his experience grew. His earlier style, while more reckless, allowed him to often interrupt an opponent’s offensive attempt with quick-timed interventions and blazing combinations.
He later went on to use his height and reach more to his advantage, but noticeably sagged off on his combination punchers while he settled more into a style where he could box at range.
Following his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr., AJ developed a style where seemed more tentative. This culminated in a dominant win for Anthony Joshua in his rematch versus Andy Ruiz, though there were claims that the win could be at least partially attributed to Ruiz being overweight in their bout [2].
His two losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022 exposed some of his shortcomings, particularly his defense, his gas tank and his lack of firepower during a fight.
Forced to improve in order to remain in the upper echelon of the Heavyweight division, Joshua has switched at least two trainers since 2021, developing under American trainer Derrick James for several months in 2023 before continuing under the tutelage of Ben Davison in the back end of 2023.
Under Davison, Joshua established a more confident yet technical boxer-puncher style, leading to a series of destructive wins in 2023 and 2024.